Dolphins' struggles only part of attendance decline

Majority of NFL fans prefer to watch games on television

December 22, 2012|By Craig Davis, Sun Sentinel

When the Miami Dolphins honored the 1972 Super Bowl championship team last week in a halftime ceremony at Sun Life Stadium, thousands of empty seats spoke volumes about how the glory has faded for the franchise.

Announced paid attendance for the Dolphins' victory over the Jaguars was 53,667. They are playing to 76.9-percent capacity going into Sunday's home finale, last in the NFL by a wide margin.

Neither on-field changes, including a first-round quarterback and new coach, nor promotions such as the 40th anniversary celebration of the Perfect Season, have put more fans in the seats.

The home average of 57,795 (29th in the NFL) is down 3,000 a game from 2011, and is the lowest since 1989 (figures available prior to 1997 are for actual, rather than paid, attendance).

Bob Griese, who quarterbacked the Dolphins during the 1972-73 championship seasons, believes the Dolphins can bring fans back through success on the field.

"I came in '67, the second year of the franchise, and the stadium wasn't full. In '70, when [Don] Shula came and we started winning, I think we sold more season-tickets than any team in the NFL."

Dolphins season-tickets jumped from 17,478 in 1969 to 69,303 and 74,961 during the '72 and '73 Super Bowl seasons — still their two highest totals.

That fits the South Florida profile.

The Miami Heat had a notable dip at the turnstiles as fortunes declined following their first championship, but last year had the NBA's biggest attendance boost as they ascended to their second title.

This season they are third in the league with an average of 19,181, second-highest in franchise history.

The question is, how much winning will it take for the Dolphins to cover up the vista of unoccupied orange at Sun Life with paying customers?

South Florida isn't the only NFL market having trouble filling stadiums. Although the league reports a slight increase in overall attendance this season, it declined each of the previous four years. The most oft-cited reasons are the advent of high-definition television combined with rising ticket costs.

With an average cost of $444 for a family of four to attend an NFL game — it's $400.54 for a Dolphins game, according to the 2012 Team Marketing Report — many fans either can't afford to attend or prefer to watch at home on their big-screen TVs.

That is supported by an ESPN poll last year that showed 61 percent of fans would rather watch on television. Big change from 1998 when 58 percent preferred to attend games.

"One of our biggest challenges in the league is the experience at home," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said recently at a fan forum in Atlanta."

Not that the NFL is suffering from the audience staying home. Teams make much more from television than ticket sales. The league's latest TV deal, beginning in 2014, will pay each team about $200 million a year.

Thus it is understandable why Dolphins owner Steve Ross keeps buying up unsold tickets in order to avoid TV blackouts. And why there's no panic as season-ticket sales continue to decline.

The Dolphins won't release this year's season-ticket total until after the season, but it had already fallen precipitously from 61,121 in 2006 to 42,584 in 2011.

"You can't look at just this season, you have to look at the cumulative effect of the last 10 years and at some of the competitive forces that are out there," Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said.

"The secondary [ticket] market is an example where tickets that are resold has had a major impact not just on our business but on every sport's teams business."

Enhancing the stadium entertainment experience to compete with the comforts of home is a growing challenge for all teams, especially those with an aging facility like Sun Life Stadium.

The Dolphins are completing network expansion to make WiFi available to all fans in the stadium and expect to have live-streaming and multicasting capabilities on smartphones and tablets available by next season.

The Dolphins will reveal a stadium renovation plan early next year to address issues such as moving seats closer to the field, infrastructure and amenities. Funding has yet to be determined, so the scope of the project is uncertain.

Dee acknowledges that public support will be difficult to obtain, but notes that the Houston Texans just got $15.5 million in tourism-related money for two giant high-definition scoreboards.

Meanwhile, the most meaningful improvements the Dolphins can make are on the field.

Dee points to season-ticket sales already generated for next season by an early renewal campaign as an encouraging sign that the fan base sees promise. A more attractive home schedule, which in 2013 will include with the Falcons and Ravens among non-division visitors, could help draw crowds.

"I feel that we've turned the corner despite some of the struggles this year with [selling] certain games," Dee said. "The only thing you can do is continue to work hard and do the right things with the fans you have and make sure that you appreciate them."

Fan appreciation efforts for Sunday's home finale include $1 hotdogs until kickoff, food and drink discounts during the game, random surprise seat and suite upgrades as well as ticket giveaways to Cirque du Soleil's Totem and other events.

But what most Dolphin fans would appreciate most is a championship contender to watch.